


James Potter Against The Snowstorm

by M_Tsu



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Christmas, Fluff, Friendship, Gen, MWPP, Marauders, Marauders Era (Harry Potter), Marauders Friendship (Harry Potter), POV James Potter, Second year
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-23
Updated: 2020-12-23
Packaged: 2021-03-10 20:34:02
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 12,849
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28263201
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/M_Tsu/pseuds/M_Tsu
Summary: During the Marauders' Second Year at Hogwarts an unusually strong snowstorm hits Scotland, and the students are locked inside the castle on Christmas Day. Everything James had planned for his friends is ruined.But he doesn't care. He is going to make the best Christmas out of this situation no matter what. Even if the world seems to be working against him.
Relationships: Peter Pettigrew & James Potter, Remus Lupin & James Potter, Sirius Black & James Potter, Sirius Black & Remus Lupin & Peter Pettigrew & James Potter
Comments: 2
Kudos: 21
Collections: SL Discord Writing Events





	James Potter Against The Snowstorm

**Author's Note:**

> This was a story written for the Winter Event in the SL Discord Server, following the prompt "Snowstorm".
> 
> Special thanks: [thecheeseburgercat](https://archiveofourown.org/users/thecheeseburgercat/pseuds/thecheeseburgercat) for beta-reading the entire thing and all of her helpful suggestions, and everyone on the SL Discord who helped me with AO3 and all of my questions!

The day wasn’t looking good. Every hour the sky became darker, the fog grew denser, and the layer of snow covering the school grounds got thicker. James stole a worried glance at the infirmary windows every few seconds, not paying much attention to the card game the Marauders were playing.

He liked the snow. In fact, a great part of his Marauder Christmas plans depended on it. But the snowstorm was clearly not ready to end. _That_ would be a real problem.

‘Are you alright, James?’ asked Remus. ‘You look a bit... um... anxious.’

James couldn’t help but frown. Remus was sitting on a bed of the Hospital Wing, resting after his latest transformation, _on Christmas Eve_! He shouldn’t be worrying about him! The poor kid still looked so pale and peaky...

‘It’s nothing,’ said James, resting a hand on Remus’ shoulder.

They continued playing and talking until a few hours later Madam Pomfrey allowed Remus to leave the hospital. The bruise on his back had almost disappeared – Remus refused to explain how it had got there, he was very secretive about his lycanthropy – and his movements didn’t look as stiff.

McGonagall walked into the Hospital Wing, apparently dressed for some private dinner the Hogwarts staff had that night. ‘Ah, leaving already?’ she asked. Remus nodded, smiling weakly. ‘I’m glad you are feeling better. It wouldn't do to spend Christmas on a Hospital bed.’ She looked ready to leave with Pomfrey, and James saw his chance.

‘Oi, Minerva!’

The teacher gave him a pointed look. ‘ _Professor McGonagall_. Don’t make me take points from Gryffindor on Christmas Eve.’

‘Aw, we are on holidays! You are not our professor right now!’ said James, smirking.

‘You are still in Hogwarts – look, Potter, don’t make me explain something you already know, we do not have time for your antics. What did you want?’

‘Ah, yes. The snowstorm, er, do you know how long it will last? It may be a bit of a problem for our plans tomorrow.’

Against all odds, McGonagall’s stern glare dissipated. A kind expression wasn’t common on her face whenever James and Sirius were around. ‘I’m afraid it will be worse tomorrow. Muggles authorities have predicted it will probably last until the morning of Boxing Day.’

Peter’s eyes widened. ‘”Predicted”? Do Muggles study Divination?’ he whispered to Remus.

‘No, it’s a thing they call meteorology, which–‘ Remus was cut off by James. ‘Well, can you stop it?’

There was a brief silence, and McGonagall raised her eyebrows. ‘It’s a snowstorm, Potter.’ She shot a glare at the other boys to shut their quiet giggles. ‘I’m sorry, Potter, but if the weather doesn’t improve, leaving the castle tomorrow will be forbidden.’

As soon as McGonagall and Pomfrey were out of sight, Sirius and Peter’s laughter echoed through the hallway. James stared at the boys with annoyance, crossing his arms.

‘I can’t wait until we learn the rain-making spell!’ said Sirius.

‘It’ll probably come after the charm to change between day and night,’ quipped Peter.

‘It was worth a shot, alright?! This snowstorm is going to ruin _everything_! I want it gone!’ He let his arms drop with a despairing sigh.

Sirius put an arm around James. ‘We don’t need a grand Christmas plan, mate. A day spent playing Gobstones together is a day well spent.’ The others agreed, and the topic was dropped, but James wasn’t convinced. They deserved a better Christmas than just... Gobstones!

The other Marauders seemed to dislike the holiday, even if they hadn’t explained their exact reasons. He knew for sure that Sirius disliked Christmas because of his parents, those... arseholes. He had almost _cried_ when his parents replied in a letter that he could stay at Hogwarts for the holidays, and James couldn’t tell if it was from how little they cared about him or from relief.

Then there was Peter. He didn’t seem happy about having to spend Christmas at home, both in First Year and Second Year. But when James proposed to stay in the school for the holidays he excitedly agreed. He, however, had never spoken ill from his family, so James couldn’t tell what the problem was.

And finally, Remus, who seemed rather indifferent about Christmas.

James had initially planned to invite the Marauders to the Potters' Christmas Party. No matter their feelings about the holiday, there was no way they wouldn't love the over-the-top and fantastic party his parents always hosted: Winter Quidditch, ice-skating, snowball fights inside ice castles, the Christmas Bake-off, a big dance party...

He had to change his plans, however, when he realised the next full moon fell on the 20th of December: Remus would have to remain in Hogwarts to receive the care of the matron after his… transformation. The Marauders decided to stay with him – which Remus took surprisingly badly, needing multiple assurances from James that they were staying in Hogwarts _for_ him, not _because_ of him – and James tried to plan the ideal Christmas in Hogwarts.

But that plan was ruined now. The snowstorm would lock them inside the castle: no snowball fights, no sleighs, no sneaking to the Hogsmeade Christmas Party... It really seemed like their only option now was spending Christmas playing bloody Gobstones in their dormitory...

Hell no. A snowstorm wouldn’t stop James Potter.

At night, he quietly got out of bed, trying not to disturb the Marauders. He had to research the brainy books Remus liked, he would have to practice some spells... Some of his plans required information of the castle, which he did have… He needed replacements: there was no way to go to the Hogsmeade Christmas Party, but perhaps he could... And they couldn’t sled inside the castle, but maybe... And there would be no snowball fight, unless... Ugh, there was so much work ahead of him in a single night!

But it would be worth it. For his friends, it would be.

  
  


James woke up with a jerk as something with black hair shouted a very joyful “Happy Christmas” at his ear. The sudden motion made his head dizzy, and his vision needed a few seconds to focus on Sirius. It took him even more seconds to realise his vision was focused because he had fallen asleep with his glasses on. He had fallen asleep on his desk, in fact.

‘Time for breakfast, mate,’ said Sirius.

Peter looked at him with worry. ‘You have really big dark circles under your eyes.’

‘Yeah, you look like Remus on one of his good days,’ joked Sirius.

Remus ignored them, and he skimmed over the notes and books on James’ desk. ‘You haven’t slept much,’ he said, a tiny frown on his face. As if on cue, James yawned. ‘What have you been doing all night?’

‘Research.’

‘You? Research?’ Remus looked both amused and genuinely surprised. He seemed ready to make a joke, but he stopped just as he opened his mouth. His hesitation hadn’t been lost on James, who narrowed his eyes at him. ‘R-research on what?’ he asked just a second later.

‘You will see. I don’t care if this bloody snowstorm insists on keeping us in the castle. I can still make a fun Christmas day out of this.’ Remus bit his lip. Peter and Sirius were now looking at James, clearly uncomfortable. ‘I know what you all said yesterday, but Christmas is a day for –‘

‘It’s not that,’ said Sirius. ‘Thank you for still trying to make this a fun day, I suppose. The problem is that this fun Christmas day of yours is... not having a good start.’

Apparently, a Hogwarts house elf had left a note on every dormitory overnight, a note with important announcements such as how leaving the building was forbidden due to the snowstorm. James read the note with increasing speed as his anger grew. 'Unbelievable! This is- ! I...! Ugh!' he finally yelled, burying his face in his hands.

He couldn't believe he had forgotten such a crucial detail: owls. They couldn't fly during a snowstorm. But they were supposed to bring the presents from his house! Peter and Sirius didn’t have their gifts either, and even though Remus had his presents with him as they were homemade, he would only give them once every other gift had arrived.

A Christmas without opening presents. Great.

But he still could save this.

‘We can do our holiday homework today,’ said Remus, ‘and then we will be free when there’s no sn-‘

‘No! Unthinkable! _Today_ is Christmas! No homework! Pack some gloves.’

  
  


James led the Marauders to a hallway on the Ground Floor after breakfast. It was somewhat remote so that they wouldn’t be immediately caught by a teacher. The corridor had a peculiarity: it was lower than the ground level outside, so the windows were very close to the ground. The layer of snow was so deep that a wall of snow was visible through the glass.

‘The first part of my plan is snow!’ announced James. The other Marauders stared at him. ‘I wanted my Marauder Christmas Snowball Fight and I _am_ getting one.’

Peter eyed the howling blizzard with worry. ‘James, there’s a... We can’t leave with the snowstorm outside. It’s dangerous.’

James huffed. ‘Who said anything about leaving?’

‘Snow... snow...’ Remus pondered. ‘There are a couple of conjuration spells to create snow but I think they may be too advanced for us. We might not get the hang of them in a day but perhaps we can–‘ James tapped his head lightly, smirking.

‘Remus, there’s a raging snowstorm outside. Right now. We can just... open a window.’ So he opened a window. He sat awkwardly on its sill, and pushed a large amount of snow inside the castle with his arm. ‘It’s uncomfortable, cold, and very loud, but it’s the best option we have,’ he said. ‘It would probably be easier to get snow into the castle through the doors to the courtyards, but I assume the professors are keeping an eye on them so that some daft kid doesn’t go out and get buried in the snow or something.’

‘Let’s be honest,’ said Sirius, ‘that would be us.’

James gave him a light kick to the ankle. ‘C’mon, get to work. It’ll be worth it!’

The other Marauders braced themselves for the mortifying temperatures that would invade the hallway, and each one opened a different window.

The coldness was starting to get unbearable, much more than James had anticipated. His hands were starting to feel numb, and despite having worked for a couple minutes, the amount of snow inside the castle was measly. At the very least, it was far from the picturesque white hallway he had imagined. Sirius tried to speed the process along using magic, but using the Levitation Charm on snow was significantly harder than what he had expected. Something about the snow not being a defined object like a feather, Remus explained.

Suddenly, James noticed a different type of coldness behind him, a coldness that chilled his bones even through the deep layers of clothes. It was embarrassing to admit that he jumped when he looked back and found himself face to face with Peeves. How long had he been just... floating behind him?!

‘What are you lot doing?’ Peeves asked in that irritating voice of his. He was wearing a Christmas red hat instead of his usual jester hat. Somehow, it made him look more despicable.

‘Getting snow inside the castle. We want to have a snowball fight,’ James tried. It wasn’t like being polite to Peeves had ever worked for anyone in the entire history of Hogwarts, but annoying him too quickly wouldn’t be helpful either.

Fake surprise and the hint of a smirk appeared on Peeves’ face. ‘There’s a snowstorm, Potty. Opening windows is _illegal_.’ He slowly floated upwards. ‘I should set the dogs on you!’

Before James could move, Peeves poured a load of sauce from a gravy boat all over James’ head. ‘You sodding...!’ His insults were cut off when Sirius pushed him forward and the Marauders started running, Peeves chasing them. The poltergeist kept throwing food he conjured out of nowhere: Peter’s back got smacked by a pudding, Sirius was bombarded by roasted potatoes, Remus’ head was hit with eggs... Even when Peeves seemingly ran out of ammunition the Marauders kept fleeing.

An unsuspecting student appeared at the other end of the hallway and James had a great – probably cruel in Remus’ opinion – idea. He muttered a spell at the girl, who noticed the group running from Peeves a bit too late. She yelped when she realised her feet had been stuck to the ground. ‘No! What did you do?! _No_!’ The Marauders ran past her, dodging her attempts at grabbing someone’s arm, and James was filled with relief when he glanced back and saw Peeves stop by the frozen girl.

When they were finally out of sight James peeked around the corner, curious about the poltergeist’s intentions. But before he could see what Peeves was planning with the tinsel, the garlands, and the big star which were now in his arms, Sirius urged him to keep running.

  
  


It took the Marauders a while to clean themselves using a couple of Scouring Charms, yet there were still stains on their clothes, Remus’ hair was still sticky, and James still smelled like gravy. Ugh.

‘Perhaps we shouldn’t come back for a while...’ said James. ‘Next idea! There’s this spell my parents use to make the floor of a room slippery; a classic of the Potter’s Christmas Party. It was specifically designed by them to imitate Muggle ice-skating!’ At the last word, Peter perked up, while Remus’ skin somehow got paler. ‘Alright, let me focus... _Gelu Itinero_!’

The floor under James’ feet glowed blue for a second. The other boys kneeled next to the spot – which looked again like an ordinary stone slab – and dragged their fingers along the surface, gasping from how slippery it felt. 'Brilliant!' muttered Sirius.

James was aware he looked very smug. ‘Well? We aren’t going to skate on a single slab, are we? Let’s get to work!’

The Marauders promptly began to charm the entire hallway. It took them a good amount of attempts to get the hang of the spell, especially Peter, who didn’t exactly shine in Charms. By the time they had good control of the spell James had already charmed half of the corridor. Still, they worked together wonderfully, with the efficiency that came with the experience of working on many pranks together.

Half an hour later, the hallway looked like every other hallway in the castle, but it was now the Marauders’ personal rink. James studied the corridor, satisfied.

‘Now, we charm the soles of our shoes! Same spell. No, Remus, don’t look at me like that. Have you seen the blades Muggles put in their boots? They’re barbaric! I don’t want to imagine how messy an ice-skating accident must look,’ he said, cringing. ‘This is the better option.’

After they cast the spell one last time, James was ready to begin his explanation on ice-skating. Or “ice”-skating, as he called it, air quotes and all. However, to everyone’s surprise, Peter was the first one to step into the invisible rink. He pushed a foot backwards in a tentative arc, slowly sliding forwards. Then, he skated in a circle around James with rare confidence on his face.

‘That’s amazing, Peter! You’re so good at it!’ said Sirius.

Peter’s smile looked impossibly wide; he didn’t often have the chance to show off a skill to the other Marauders. James gave him a proud thumbs-up.

‘There’s an ice-skating rink in the city near my town, and my father used to take me there during the holidays. Using my whole feet instead of an ice-skater boot is... a bit weird? But it’s very similar.’

Sirius stepped forward carefully, and a smirk grew on his face as he moved his foot around, apparently working out how to “ice”-skate. But the moment he tried to slide forward his feet slipped and he fell on his backside.

James couldn’t contain his smile. With Peter sliding around, and Sirius taking his failures and falls in good humour, he could consider the “ice”-skating was a success! The only one who was still reluctant to join was, as he had expected, Remus. He offered him his hand, but the smaller boy didn’t take it. His eyes were constantly trained on Sirius, who was slipping each time he tried to stand up.

James put his arm over Remus’ shoulders and gently pushed him onto the charmed floor, never letting go of him. ‘If you want to I’ll take you back to safety. But I won’t let you fall, I promise.’

Remus looked at him with big worried eyes. His face being so close to his, James realised how sick and tired Remus still looked. Had he not rested properly the previous night? Did the bruise on his back still hurt? Should he _actually_ be ice-skating? James was ready to cancel the activity; he wouldn’t let Remus sit away, alone, watching the other Marauders enjoy themselves with the ice-skating while he–

‘I trust you.’

It had been more than a month since James had seen such honesty in Remus’ eyes. This wasn’t the Remus who lived in fear because his friends had discovered his lycanthropy, the Remus who reluctantly complied with everything the Marauders suggested believing their opinion of him would otherwise worsen. He _trusted_ him. James smiled and gave him a squeeze.

James gave Remus some quick lessons (how could his legs be so wobbly?) until he was finally sliding forward. Incredibly slowly, but it was progress! Peter cheered him when Remus willingly let go of James’ arm, a smile growing on his face.

‘Now that we are getting the hang of this,’ said James, skating backwards, because he could, ‘we should consider something more fun, like a race! That’s why I chose a hallway for the spell. Perhaps a game? We could put two goals at either side of the–‘ His explanation was cut off when Sirius, still trying to skate without falling, almost crashed against him. ‘Oi! Alright, we are clearly not ready for ice games yet.’

Sirius gave him a look. ‘Well, this is harder than what it looks! I think my legs are too long and... Don’t laugh! It makes sense!’ He striked a determined pose, and launched himself forward. ‘I’m going to get this, just you watch!’

A second later, he lost his equilibrium again and fell on his back. This time, however, he had too much momentum and he slid forward at great speed, unable to decelerate. James quickly took out his wand, intending to stop him, but it was too late. Sirius crashed against one of the suits of armour decorating the hallway, and the knight collapsed into pieces with a loud metallic echo.

Peter was at his side in an instant, helping Sirius sit up. ‘Bloody hell,’ he muttered, picking up the silvery glove that had bumped his head. ‘I didn’t expect those things to be so fragile.’

‘T-that was scary,’ said Peter. ‘The s-sword almost f-fell on you.’

‘It’s a fake sword,’ said Sirius, dragging his finger across the blade. ‘They’re not going to have real swords in a school full of children. Think of the Slytherins, Peter.’ Whether the Slytherins would be the murderers or the victims was unclear. He picked up the fallen helmet and put it on. It was too big and it looked incredibly goofy on his shoulders. ‘I’m a knight now! Where’s the dragon I need to slay? I have to save Prince Lupin!’

James arrived with Remus holding his arm, as he had been too shaken up by the accident to even attempt to move. At Sirius’ comment, however, the boy’s expression went from distressed to annoyed in record time.

‘Stop that,’ said James, giggling. ‘We have quite the big problem on our hands, let’s not get distracted.’

Remus pointed his wand at the metallic mess. ‘ _Reparo_!’ The pieces reassembled themselves, but the structure of the armour proved to be too complex and his Mending Charm too weak. After a hopeful second the knight fell apart again.

James winced. ‘Alright. Great. Fine. Gentlemen, I think we should get as far away from the scene of the crime as possible.’

‘There are no more than 20 students in the entire school, James. I think it’s obvious who’ll be the only suspects.’

‘Then we hide the evidence! There are hundreds of these suits of armour littering the place, no one will notice if one is missing. I think if we hide it in one of the cleaning cabinets no one will find it for years to come,’ said James, smirking. It was truly a genius plan.

Remus seemed to finally be calming down. ‘Fine. Let’s remove the spell of the floor so it’s easier to move the pieces.’

James pointed his wand at the floor. ‘ _Finite Incantatem_!’ He dragged his foot across the floor. It was still slippery.

‘What’s the counter-spell?’ asked Remus.

‘I... don’t know it.’

Remus’ mouth hung open while Sirius snorted. ‘You don’t know how to remove this thing?’

‘Well, I... help prepare the Potter’s Christmas Party, but I’m always too tired to clean everything up afterwards? ... Look, it slipped my mind, alright?! But it’ll wear off in a couple of hours! Now let’s hide this thing before a witness appears.’

  
  


After hiding the knight pieces Sirius refused to return to the rink. “I have had terrible experiences there,” he had said. Peter, and surprisingly Remus, were both disappointed, but neither one complained.

‘Look at this beautiful hallway; there are no suits of armour around!’ said James, motioning at the corridor with his hand. Or rather, at the staircase in front of them. ‘I’ll turn this into a slide! It will replace sleighing. It’d be better to do it with snow, of course, but I have devised a method that will work here as well: remember the incident when we attempted the Firework Frogs Prank last year?’

Sirius snapped his fingers. ‘The staircase to the girls’ dormitories! They turned into a slide on us!’

‘Wait,’ gasped Remus. ‘That spell appears in _Hogwarts, a History_! That’s what you researched last night?’ James nodded, and he basked in the genuine awe in Remus’ eyes. ‘I have to admit, I’m impressed.’

‘See! I can be all brainy when I want to! I even spent hours practising it!’

Sirius glanced between the two of them with unexpected annoyance. ‘Alright, alright. Where are the sleighs, though?’

‘Last year, Hooch lent the students some sleighs to play in the snow, remember? They’re stored in a closet near the door to Greenhouse Three.’

‘That’s quite close, isn’t it?’

‘That’s why I chose this staircase: it should take you about ten minutes to collect them and come back. I thought of everything!’

Sirius and Remus ended up looking for two sleighs. Meanwhile, James worked on the spellwork to “slidify” the staircase.

‘ _Cadere Gradus_.’ There were only a few steps left when James noticed that Peter was biting his nails. It was the sign that the boy wanted to say something, but he was unsure about how to begin the conversation or whether he should have it at all. James may have been bad at emotions, but he knew he was a good listener. ‘Is everything okay, Peter? Something in your mind?’

‘Eek! N-no, not really.’ He stood still, studying the carpet.

‘You know you can talk to me about anything,’ said James, giving him an encouraging smile.

Peter nodded slowly. He tried to look past James, perhaps expecting someone to appear, and after a few seconds, he spoke. ‘I really enjoyed the ice-skating. Or, well, the “ice”-skating,’ he said, imitating James’ previous air quotes with a small smile. ‘I’d like to repeat it sometime.’

That was... unexpected. ‘Of course,’ said James, though he was a bit confused. He knew Peter was shy in general, though he didn’t usually hold back when suggesting his ideas on how the Marauders should spend their time. This was too meek for him, but James didn’t know how to get the rest of the information he wanted. ‘You were pretty good up there.’

‘Thanks,’ said Peter, a hint of sadness in his voice. James was at a total loss.

Sirius and Remus arrived at that moment, Sirius pulling two sleds and Remus showing signs of exhaustion. James finished the spells on the staircase with a special touch: the lowest steps had been transfigured into a less steep slide so that the sleighs wouldn’t crash against the floor with too much speed. Physics was no rival for James Potter.

He glanced at Remus and Peter. ‘Sirius and I will give it the first go so you’ll see this is _safe_. Honestly, your faces are quite telling,’ giggled James.

‘W-well, it’s very steep!’ yelped Peter, Remus nodding meekly behind him. ‘It looks too high, I d-don’t think–‘

But before he could finish, James and Sirius got into the small wooden sleigh and slid down. The ride was over in barely over a second, but the steepness made up for how short it was. It wasn’t as thrilling as diving down on a broomstick and feeling the wind on your face, sure, but he expected Remus and Peter would have fun.

And they did. They were afraid on their first ride – Peter even requested a Silencing Charm to be cast on him so “his screams wouldn’t be heard through the entire castle” – but they quickly got addicted to the experience. Pulling the sleighs up the slide was getting tiring, but it was _so_ worth it! Remus and Peter were enjoying every ride and even Sirius was laughing with the fluttery feelings in his stomach; _this_ is what James had stayed the whole night awake for!

‘What’s that?’ asked Peter suddenly. A black shape had appeared at the other end of the hallway.

Sirius widened his eyes as the huge creature got closer. ‘Oh, it’s Nugget! Hagrid’s dog!’

James stood up, getting out of the sleigh. ‘I think I saw Hagrid today at breakfast. Perhaps they are staying in the castle because of the snowstorm?’

The dog had her head stuck to the floor and seemed to be following a very enticing smell. James approached her with the intention of shooing her away; running over a dog with a sleigh wasn’t on his plans today. But when he stepped too close to her, her ears perked up and her tail started to wag intensely. James realised at once _he_ was the source of the smell. _Damn Peeves and his gravy_!

Nugget tried to stand up, putting her paws on James’ chest to steady herself, snuffling the cloth loudly with that big wet nose. She was, however, too heavy, and kept accidentally pushing James backwards. He tried to step back to regain his equilibrium, but his foot only found air. One of the Marauders yelled something, another reached for his hand, but it was too late.

James rolled down the stony slide, and he landed face-first on the carpet of the lower floor, hot liquid running under his nose. To add insult to the injury, two heavy paws pinned his back to the floor, and Nugget licked his cloak, trying to determine whether it was food or not.

James sat up with some difficulty while the Marauders walked down the slide carefully. ‘Thank you, Nugget. _Thank you_ ,’ he said, glaring at her. She whined and looked at him with those big sad eyes. She felt bad. _Good_.

James Potter now officially hated dogs, and he never wanted to see one again.

‘Bloody hell, James, that was a big fall,’ said Sirius, studying his nose. ‘You have to go to the infirmary –‘

‘B-but the slide! It was working!’

‘James, mate, you’re bleeding all over your Gryffindor shirt!’

‘Who cares! It’s already red!’

Their bickering was interrupted by grave yells and the barks of Nugget. James quickly patted all of his pockets, looking for the Cloak of Invisibility, but he was too disoriented. Hagrid, Hogwarts’ huge gatekeeper, appeared around the corner with a joyful smile.

‘Ah, there yeh are! I have bin looking fer yeh everywhere, Nugget!’ His face fell when he noticed James’ crimson face. ‘Er... good morning, lads. Did... Nugget do anything ter yeh?’ He looked very worried.

James sighed. ‘No. She tried to sniff me, and I slipped. It’s not her fault.’

‘It’s tha’ blasted poltergeist, Peeves!’ bellowed Hagrid. ‘As soon as he knew me an' Nugget had ter stay inside here because o' the snowstorm, he flew ter the kitchens. His idea o’ a prank is throwing food at the kids so Nugget will chase ‘em! They’re lucky she’s such a good girl, she wouldn’t hurt a Doxie!’ he said, petting her. ‘If he weren’t a ghost, I would get my hands on... Er... Wha’ is tha’?’ James froze. Hagrid had finally noticed the rather noticeable slide behind the boy. ‘I don’t come inside the castle often, but I remember a staircase here...’

James groaned, covering his face – and his not-so-good acting skills – with his hands. ‘Ow, my nose! Ow...’

‘Ah, yes!’ said Hagrid, helping James stand up. ‘We should go heal tha’.’

  
  


Madam Pomfrey quickly fixed James’ broken nose. All things considered, he had gotten away from the accident relatively unscathed. Even his glasses were intact! A Christmas miracle, announced Sirius.

‘Peeves, 2. Marauders, 0,’ sighed James. ‘I really want to get rid of that git... Next activity. Quidditch.’

‘Wait, what about the slide?’ asked Peter.

James shrugged. ‘Hagrid has probably removed the charms by now, and I want to keep moving from game to game. So now it’s Quidditch time.’

‘That doesn’t strike me as a Christmas activity,’ snorted Sirius.

‘Well, ideally there would be no bloody snowstorm and we could play Winter Quidditch outside, but c’est la vie. A normal game of Quidditch is all we have.’

‘And where will we play?’ asked Remus, clearly wary of the answer.

‘The Great Hall, of course! It’s the biggest room inside the castle. You could comfortably have a short game of Quidditch with four people in there. We'd have time to set everything up, play a bit, and then clean everything before lunch starts.’

Remus stared at him with that look of his that said “I don’t think you are very sane at all”, so James slapped his shoulder. ‘Relax, mate! I know some charms you can use on Bludgers to make them slower and less violent. It’ll be like a rubber ball softly nudging you instead of an iron monster trying to give you a concussion.’

‘You cannot cast charms on Bludgers; they have security charms to prevent cheating mid-game. Don’t you remember the last game with the Slytherins? A Bludger there got so violent it almost knocked down one of the stands! The captain was banned and –’

James put a finger on Remus’ lips, hushing him. ‘Nuh-uh. This is my field, Remus. And I know for a fact that you can charm a Bludger if it’s still being held by the chains of its suitcase. That’s how Quidditch games are modified. Also, the Bludger of that game was faulty: when they detect cheating, they should simply stop working.’

Remus’ face fell as he realised the plan was foolproof, James guessed. Probably incorrectly.

He sent Remus and Peter to get James and Sirius’ broomstick from the dormitory. Meanwhile, the other two sneaked into the equipment room. Good thing most doors of the castle could be opened with a simple “Alohomora!”.

There were two adjacent shelves near a wall: one of them was full of suitcases and perfectly still, while the other _vibrated_ , the suitcases it stored producing a low rumbling sound. It was easy to tell which one stored Quaffles and which one Bludgers. James, however, grabbed the trembling black suitcase on the desk by the entrance, which had a simple tag that read “Bludger - 072”. He was momentarily struck by how much it was shaking. Were Bludgers this violent while inside their–

‘I found a Snitch! Look! 150 points!’ Sirius whispered, holding a golden case over his head. James laughed quietly.

Sirius picked up a suitcase with Quaffles and went to look for the goal rings. Meanwhile, James searched for two brooms for Remus and Peter, which were stored in a cabinet with an incredibly long drawer. James went over a few, disgusted at every single one of them. ‘This bloody school and its broomsticks from the 40s…’

With everything ready, they snuck out of the room with the Cloak of Invisibility over them – James had to cast a Silencing Charm on the Bludger suitcase because it was incredibly noisy –. A few minutes later, the Marauders reunited in the Great Hall.

Sirius and Peter set up the goal rings while James called Remus for help, as he was particularly good with one of the charms they needed. The smaller boy stared at the shaky suitcase with wary eyes. ‘How do we know it’s not going to break our skulls as soon as you open it?’

‘Relax Remus, the chains will hold the Bludger in place. Remember: deceleration, softness, and calming spells. You do the Slowing Charm. Are you ready?’

Remus held his wand high, protectively, and stared at the suitcase with wide eyes. James laughed good-naturedly; Remus really would grow old too quickly from worrying too much.

When he undid the lock, the Bludger burst out of the suitcase at a terrifying speed. It flew upwards until it knocked off a few of the floating candles, which rained down on the boys. Sirius and Peter turned their heads in fear at the intense buzzing sound the Bludger produced; it was as if a huge hornet had snuck into the Great Hall.

‘What the hell, James?!’ yelled Remus.

‘Er... Run... Run!’

The missile dove at Sirius, who dropped the goal ring as if it were fire and ducked under the staff table with a screech. The bludger crashed against the sturdy wood, crushing an expensive-looking candelabra. ‘ _Sirius,_ _run_!’

The Marauders – except Peter, who was already near the door, the lucky bastard – took cover under the dining tables, flinching each time the Bludger smashed the floor or the wood above them. They didn’t even have time to look back and witness the destruction; as soon as everyone was outside of the Great Hall, they shut the door.

‘Bloody hell... James... What was _that_?!’ muttered Sirius, panting.

‘I... I have no idea...’

They took a few moments to sit down and regain their breath, glancing at the door with terror; despite how thick it was, the Bludger was so noisy they could still hear its buzzing and its thumps.

After resting a few minutes while discussing what they should do with the Bludger and how to retrieve their broomsticks, the – rather unfortunate – solution presented herself to them. McGonagall had been notified by one of the house elves in the kitchen about the strange noises they kept hearing above them in the Great Hall. Needless to say, she was beyond furious, enough to even make the usual nonchalant Sirius cower. The Marauders waited patiently, their heads lowered, while McGonagall went to summon Madam Hooch. They were going to get one big tongue-lashing.

Apparently, the Bludger James had nicked happened to be the malfunctioning Bludger from the last game. Hooch had been trying to undo the effects of the hex the Slytherin captain had used and undo the Anti-Cheating charms, but she had failed at both.

‘That game was almost a month ago! Madam Hooch had enough time to...’ James shut up as soon as he realised, judging by McGonagall’s intense glare, that he was getting into dangerous territory. ‘L-look, in our defence... we didn’t know the Bludger was faulty when we nicked it,’ said James.

‘You shouldn’t have taken it in the first place, Potter, it’s school property! And freeing a Bludger inside the Great Hall, defective or not is –‘

‘But we had spells to make it safe! Spells for decelera–‘

‘Do not interrupt me, Potter. Madam Hooch intended to dispose of the Bludger, _safely_ , but now that Bludger is free inside the Great Hall, destroying the decoration and the furniture. At any point it may break the windows, and who knows where it would fly off! It will take us _hours_ to fix this and we will be _lucky_ if the Great Hall is ready and clean for the Christmas Feast! Detention. Two hours of the detention! For the four of you. Today at 3 o’clock.’

James’ shoulder hunched. He winced, trying to find any words to defend himself. ‘B-but today is Christmas! This is an injustice! This is a disgrace! Is this your idea of a Christmas present?!’

‘I expect you four to be punctual.’

  
  


Lunch wasn’t great. The other three Gryffindors who had stayed behind for Christmas seemed highly annoyed at the Marauders’ antics, but James couldn’t understand why. Was it about the – admittedly numerous – lost points? That was already the Marauders’ favourite hobby! And besides, they always gained the points back... Were they, perhaps, annoyed about having lunch in their Common Room? Did they want to have lunch with friends from other houses? Because if so, what a loss! It wasn’t like they had ruined the actual Christmas Feast! Probably...

After a good hearty meal, the Marauders dragged themselves – very reluctantly – to the Detention Room. James, however, tried to stay positive. Despite the gravity of their actions and the possible destruction of the Great Hall, McGonagall had only given them two hours of detention. There was plenty of day ahead of them to try out the other plans he had devised!

The professor handed each of them a long scroll and an anti-cheating quill. ‘Write this down: “ _I will not borrow school property without permission, I will not set dangerous objects free inside the castle, and I will not interrupt the professor when she is speaking._ ” Copy that 100 times.’

‘But it’s such a long sentence!’ James complained. Did they even have enough time?!

A single look was enough to silence him. Yes, it was better not to push her buttons. For the sake of the holiday. ‘You may start. If you haven’t finished your lines when detention is over, I expect the rest tomorrow at 8 o’clock in the morning.’

The first thirty minutes were excruciatingly long, but James behaved as nicely as he could. In another occasion he might have started to hum, whistle, or drum his fingers just to irritate McGonagall, but not this time. He wanted the punishment to finish as quickly as possible.

Then McGonagall left when Filch summoned her. Somehow, James didn’t have a good feeling about that, but he continued copying his lines diligently.

Something soft hit his head. It bounced comically, and landed next to his table. A paper ball. ‘Sirius...’ he warned. ‘We want to be out of here as soon as possible. I don’t fancy spending the rest of the evening copying lines when McGonagall returns and sees we haven’t been working.’

‘Oh, c’mon! Filch will keep McGonagall entertained for a while. I have 24 lines so far, and in any case we can turn in the lines tomorrow. We can play for a bit.’ And then he threw another paper ball.

James frowned. Realising Sirius was sitting behind him, he turned around so that Sirius could see his frown, but he got smacked in the face with another ball. A smirk started to appear on his face, but Remus stopped him before he could grab the ball next to him.

‘McGonagall could be back at any time. If she catches us messing around instead of writing there will be hell to pay.’

A paper ball smacked Remus’ nose. ‘Hush!’ giggled Sirius. ‘C’mon, James, you wanted a snowball fight didn’t you?’ He grabbed another sheet from the shelf near him, crumpling it down into a ball. ‘Well, this is the closest we have!’ And he threw the ball at James.

‘It’s war!’ James yelled. He jumped to hide behind the professor’s desk, and Peter ran excitedly to hide behind a shelf. Sirius crouched behind his table, which he had flipped as a makeshift barrier. Remus sighed, hiding behind a column.

James quickly grabbed a bunch of the papers from the stack on the desk, creating as much ammunition as he could. Every few seconds he peeked out from his hideout, throwing a ball at whoever dared to show his head.

Sirius kept making paper balls at impressive speed, throwing various of them at once. At one point, Remus was hit three times by the same shot. Peter, who didn’t have paper sheets at hand, was forced to use the balls the other two threw at him. When he ran out of balls he yelped in a particularly shrill tone, and James saw his chance. He dashed to Peter’s den with dozens of paper balls at hand, throwing them one by one repeatedly. Without a place to hide, Peter ran from behind the shelf, exposing himself to more bullets from Sirius.

‘Oi, you two are teaming up on me!’

‘Take cover, Peter! This is between me and Sirius. He started this battle, and he shall end it! This is your chance to surrender!’

‘Never!’ came Sirius’ defiant yell from behind his table.

Peter quickly hid behind the professor’s desk, occupying James’ previous hideout, and peeked around to watch the fight. Not willing to hide, James left the spot behind the shelf and ran towards Sirius with a valiant war cry, a cry worthy of a Gryffindor. Without a cover between them, the two boys threw paper balls at each other, smacking each other’s faces and chest repeatedly.

What none of them had realised was that Remus had been quietly collecting all the ammunition they had been throwing at him during the game. A cloud of dozens of flying paper balls dove towards them at incredible speed, bombarding them. The cloud turned around, controlled by some sneaky spell a very smug Remus had casted on them. But right as the balls were about to hit Sirius and James again, the door opened.

McGonagall stared at the scene for a few seconds: James and Sirius being repeatedly smacked by flying paper balls, the balls falling dead on the floor with a gasp from Remus, Peter peeking with wide eyes from behind the professor’s desk, and dozens, perhaps hundreds, of paper balls littering the floor.

She pinched the bridge of her nose and sighed. Deeply. ’20 points from Gryffindor for each one of you.’ And then she said something that surprised everyone in the room. ‘You will continue with detention tomorrow, and there will be _more_ lines. Now, leave.’

Remus and Peter hurried outside of the room, and Sirius followed them with a smirk on his face and that elegant walk of his. Before James could leave, however, the professor stopped him.

‘And if I hear that you four have charmed another hallway there will be _harsh_ consequences, understood, Potter? No magic in the corridors, and that’s a _rule_. There will be a punishment for that tomorrow as well.’

‘You don’t know if that was us!’

McGonagall closed the door of the Detention Room without a word. When they were far enough, Peter spoke.

‘W-what was that about?’

Sirius put a hand on his chest, grinning. ‘She doesn’t want us to spend our Christmas rotting in a room writing lines. Minnie has a heart after all!’

‘No, she wants to make sure we never see the light of the sun when this snowstorm ends. These next days are going to be _fun_ ,’ said James.

‘We d-did break a couple of rules...’ Remus said mildly.

James shrugged. ‘Who cares, no one was hurt! Alright, next stop...’

  
  


‘Why are we here again?’ asked Sirius, kicking one of the piles of snow that hadn’t completely melted yet.

James opened the window, letting the shivering cold pass. ‘I want a proper snowball fight, not the lame paper one. Peeves pestered us this morning, but he’s not around anymore. Let’s try to get some snow inside the castle again.’

‘A-are you sure?’ asked Remus. ‘We are deep in trouble now. Our... detention tomorrow...’

James waved a hand, dismissing his worries. ‘I doubt getting snow into the castle is against the rules. Besides, we’re not using any spells, are we? McGonagall can’t complain.’ Remus pondered it for a moment and seemed to agree.

They put on their gloves again and started to push snow into the castle. After a few minutes they had got a respectable amount of snow inside the castle. They needed more, however, if they wanted the fight to last for more than ten seconds. And then someone started to sing.

_Oh, jingle bells, jingle bells_

_Jingle all the way_

_Oh, what fun it is to ride_

_In a one horse open sleigh_

‘What’s that song?’ said Sirius. He looked down both ends of the hallway. ‘And who’s singing?’

‘It’s a Christmas Carol,’ replied Remus. ‘Muggle.’ Sirius nodded with a weird face. It didn’t take much for James to know why he had never heard such a song.

Peter tried to cover his giggles. ‘He sounds... wobbly.’

Then Sirius pointed at the wall, bursting into laughter. ‘It’s a painting, look!’ The other Marauders turned to one of the nearby paintings. An old man with long green robes and a bottle in his hand was sitting in what seemed to be an office. His nose was incredibly red, and there were various empty bottles next to him. ‘It’s a drunken painting, bloody hell!’

James couldn’t help but laugh as well. It was an amusing scene, though he suspected it could get annoying fast. ‘A bit early to hit the bottle, innit?’ The old man turned to him, bemused. ‘Could you go to another painting to sing? I’m sure that-‘

‘Aw, no, let him stay!’ said Sirius. Peter nodded behind him. ‘He’s funny. Besides, didn’t you want to give us a nice Christmas or whatever? He’s providing the Christmas Spirit!’

‘You heard the laddie! Let me sing and go away, you brat!’ said the old man, finishing with a hiccup. James scowled at the audacity of the painting, but decided to let it go. The other Marauders were enjoying his company, after all.

_On the first day of Christmas_

_my true love sent to me:_

_A Partridge in a Pear Tree._

‘What an awful singer,’ muttered James. He breathed hot air into his hands; the coldness was starting to slip through the gloves.

‘Yeah, I’m s-starting to t-think he’s a b-bit annoying,’ said Peter, shivering.

_On the fourth day of Christmas_

_my true love sent to me:_

_4 Calling Birds_

_2 Turtle Doves_

_3 French Hens_

_and a Partridge in a Pear Tree_

‘Is it just me or is he raising his voice?’ asked James.

‘Yeah, and he’s so off pitch it hurts,’ complained Remus. He had crossed his arms, tucking his hands between them.

_On the... er... something day of Christmas_

_my true loaf said to me:_

_7 Swine a Swimming_

_7 Geese a Laying?_

_5 Golden Rains_

_3 French Doves_

‘He’s messing up the lyrics so much...’ said Remus, flinching when Peter suddenly sneezed.

‘Who cares about the lyrics?’ grumbled Sirius. ‘When is that bloody song going to end? How many Christmas days are there?!’

James approached the painting. ‘Sir? Sir?! Oi, Sir!’ Finally the old man shut his blasted mouth. ‘Please, lower your volume, will you? We are–’ Immediately, the old man started singing again. Almost yelling, really. ‘For the love of...! Just shut up! _Shut up, you stupid banshee!_ ’

Each time James raised his volume, so did the painting. In a bout of fury, James wiped his wand out. ‘ _Silencio_!’ And suddenly, the only noise in the hallway came from the strong winds of the snowstorm. The old man calmly stood up and disappeared outside of the frame with a stumbling step. He appeared in another painting.

_On the ninth day of Christmas_

‘ _Silencio_!’

 _‘My true love sent to me_ ’, he sang from another painting.

‘ _Silencio_!’

‘ _10 Lords a Leaping_ ’, he sang yet again from another painting.

‘Bloody hell. I swear if you keep up with this I will feed your painting to a sodding Hungarian Horntail!’

And just as expected, the old man kept going with what was apparently his new hobby: pestering James. He groaned to the shaky laughs of the Marauders, and he turned around to find the windows closed and the three boys shivering. They had gathered a good amount of snow, enough to play a decent snowball fight. But between the coldness that had invaded the hallway, and the wailings of that... arse... it was clear it wouldn’t be an enjoyable game.

He sighed, defeated. ‘Oh, well... Let’s return to the common room and warm up.’

  
  


The Marauders stopped by the kitchens. When they returned to the comfort of the – surprisingly empty – Gryffindor common room they had warm cups of chocolate heating up their hands and a tray of biscuits.

They pushed a sofa closer to the fireplace and, though it was a bit small for the four of them, they sat on it, snuggling together. Remus tried not to sit too close to James; he tried to avoid all physical contact with the Marauders since the moment they had discovered his secret. He probably believed his friends would find touching a werewolf disturbing, so James, in turn, became even more touchy-feely with him. He put an arm over Remus’ shoulder, pulling him closer.

‘Hot chocolate by the fireplace. Let’s see how this will go wrong.’

‘Don’t jinx it,’ said Sirius, smirking.

‘I can’t possibly jinx this day any further,’ lamented James. ‘Everything I had planned for today has somehow failed.’

‘To be perfectly honest, we can always repeat today’s games any other day. Everything we’ve tried so far has been more... “wintery” than “Christmas-y”.’

One of the ornaments caught James’ attention, and the corner of his smile grew subtly. ‘You want something that screams “Christmas”? I have the perfect tradition for you.’ Sirius raised an eyebrow. James flickered his wand and muttered a spell.

‘You cheeky bastard,’ said Sirius, laughing when he noticed the mistletoe floating above him and Peter. He eyed Peter with a smirk, and he puckered his lips repeatedly, making nasty wet sounds.

‘Ew, no!’ yelped Peter, pushing Sirius away with a laugh.

‘Rude!’ Sirius turned to James. ‘I tried to uphold your Christmas’ traditions, I did. It’s a shame Peter is so disrespectful,’ he sentenced, earning giggles from the other Marauders.

With the warmth from the fireplace and the chocolate, James was starting to get very relaxed. His eyes were on the verge of closing long enough to fall asleep when a soft nudge brought him back to reality. Sirius gestured with his finger to remain in silence, and he pointed at Peter, who had fallen asleep on the arm of the sofa.

A few minutes later, Remus’ head fell on James’ shoulder. When he turned to look at him, the smaller boy was already deep in sleep. James didn’t feel like the day had been exhausting enough for Remus and Peter to need a nap. But then again, they had been running around the castle all day, and Sirius and James always seemed to have ten times their energy.

‘You know, James,’ whispered Sirius. ‘I’m happy we didn’t stay all day playing Gobstones after all. I’m having a lot of fun seeing how everything is blowing up in your face,’ he said, smirking. James glared at the fireplace until Sirius pressed his arm against his. ‘But really, I appreciate the effort.’

James linked their arms with a smile. Even if the day wasn’t being the success he had expected, he could almost consider one his objectives crossed off; Sirius wouldn’t think of his awful parents on Christmas. James wouldn’t let them ruin his _brother_ ’s holidays, and if it was in his hands, Sirius would never have to come back to that horrible place. Not during Christmas, not during Easter, not during the summer, not _ever_.

With Remus sleeping on his shoulder and Sirius’ linked arm, James was in a very comfortable position. Having stayed awake for almost the entire night, he suspected that he himself was close to dozing off as well. However, he fought to stay awake; what if he napped for too long and lost the better part of the day?

He had to... stay awake...

  
  


When James woke up, the light that came from the windows – which had been dark and misty because of the snowstorm all day – had become nonexistent. He cursed himself. How long had he been asleep? Bloody hell!

What was more surprising, however, was the other three Marauders, who were perfectly awake and playing Exploding Snap.

‘What are you all doing? Why did you not wake me up?!’ He felt just a little bit guilty for how accusatory he sounded.

Sirius giggled. ‘Easy there. Don’t you know the sun sets faster in winter? You only slept for a little bit over an hour. There’s still plenty of day left.’

‘Still.’ James stood up, yawning and stretching. ‘Finish that round and get ready. I have another plan.’

But the explanation never came. Cooper, one of the Gryffindors who had stayed behind for Christmas, told the Marauders that McGonagall was looking for them. James protested. They had already gone through detention – sort of – and she was going to punish them on the following days! What else could she want?! But Cooper shrugged, disappearing up the dormitory stairs.

They left to McGonagall’s office with an indignant step. Four students – one of them the girl they had left behind with Peeves, and another one Remus’ friend from Ravenclaw – appeared from a corner. They stood still at a certain distance from each other but blocking the path. James slowed his pace as he walked, finally stopping when Remus whispered his name with worry. He turned around to find three other kids walking towards them in the same formation. They were trapped.

The Marauders quickly wiped their wands out, but the oldest of the students easily got rid of their wands with a silent Disarming Charm. Sirius was the only one who had managed to cast a spell at the kids, but it was deflected by the Shield Charm of another student. Before James could ask what the kids wanted, one of them yelled “Now!”.

Dozens of dungbombs flew at them from every direction. The bloody kids kept throwing them without pause, and the dungbombs came at such speed that it was hard to hear the other Marauders’ yelps and coughs under the explosive noises. But the worst was the smell. It was hard to breathe. Gosh, is this how awful the dungbombs really smelled when you were at the centre of them?

James almost came to regret every single time he had used them in a prank. Almost.

After what seemed like an eternity, the firing stopped. James couldn’t even look at himself due to the filth on his glasses, but it didn’t take a genius to know that his clothes would have to spend days in the laundry.

‘What the hell was that for!?’ yelled Sirius. His voice sounded quivery, as if he had been fighting back nausea.

‘You four have been messing around the school all day! Everyone here has been a victim of your stupid pranks and this is our revenge!’ said one of the students. James couldn’t see at the moment, but he could _hear_ the smirk on his voice.

James stomped on the floor, huffing loudly. ‘We didn’t pull any pranks today, you stupid berks!’

‘Oh yeah, then what was that slippery hallway?! I slipped there and I poured two cups of chocolate on myself!’ said an older student, judging by his voice.

‘And you froze me before I could run away from Peeves! He wrapped me in a bunch of ornaments and glued a star on my head because he wanted a “Living Christmas Tree”!’ said a girl.

‘I rolled down the staircases you turned into a slide! I had to go to the infirmary with a dislocated wrist!’ said the Ravenclaw boy James had recognised as Remus’ friend.

‘You lost us 180 points today! _180_! In a single day! _A single day_!’ said one of the Gryffindors.

‘There’s an old man going through all the paintings of the castle just _screaming_ , and he’s looking for an “annoying boy with glasses”. The professors can’t convince him to shut up!’ said another boy.

‘And the Bludger you locked up in the Great Hall escaped while Hooch was trying to catch it, and it chased us to our common room!’ said a girl behind James.

James was quietly impressed. They had caused plenty of chaos, but at the end of the day no one had been really injured. Even the Ravenclaw boy; with Pomfrey around, dislocated wrists were nothing more than a nuisance in Hogwarts. Any other day James would have been proud, but...

‘We weren’t trying to prank anyone! Well, we _are_ guilty! Of... all of that. But it wasn’t intentional! None of that! ... Except the Peeves thing.’

But they would hear none of it. Just as James managed to clean his glasses enough to be able to see again – though the world looked faintly brownish now –, a kid threw another dungbomb. This one, however, had been modified, and it exploded in a cloud of Itchy Powder.

It was delightfully devilish: the powder was surprisingly good at getting glued to their skin thanks to the filth from the Dungbombs, and if you tried to scratch yourself, your hands would only get covered in more and more filth. Between the intense itchiness and the sickening nauseating smell, James vaguely remembered having pulled the exact same prank two months ago. Perhaps in another occasion he would have been proud to be their inspiration.

‘And don’t you four try to get revenge, you all know you deserve this! This was our revenge for you lot ruining our Christmas!’

Oh, he _was_ getting revenge...

  
  


‘We _are_ getting revenge,’ announced James. Sirius smirked while drying his hair. ‘Today is a Marauder Christmas. What do the Marauders do best? Pranks. Thus, it stands to reason that a Marauder Christmas would be incomplete without a classic Marauder Prank. It’s pure logic, this should have been in my plans from the start.’

‘W-won’t we anger them?’ Peter asked. ‘They used one of our pranks against us, and, er… I don’t think they were trying to bully us like Mulciber and his friends? They were playing, just like we do. One of Remus’ friends was even among them!’ Remus nodded behind Peter.

‘Well, if they want to play, so do I! I propose we pour some potion on the Christmas Pudding. We need to brew something. Quickly. We have been in the shower for so long that it’s less than an hour until the feast.’

‘Christmas Pudding? I think that’s... predictable,’ muttered Remus.

‘We don't have time to improvise,’ said James.

Sirius took out his cauldron. ‘There’s this potion that turns your skin red and green. We have the ingredients, it's quick to brew…’

‘Christmas colours!’ said Peter. ‘I like that.’

‘Alright! Sirius, Peter, you two will stay here and brew the potion. Remus, you’ll help me. You all know Collins, right? That bloke who is always smuggling alcohol into the school? Well, I want to nick a bottle of Butterbeer from his stash: to celebrate our prank! And because I’m still crossed about missing the Hogsmeade Party...’

Remus shook his head, cringing. ‘James, that’s not a prank, that’s _stealing_!’

‘Aw, he only drinks Firewhiskey anyway! He won’t notice a missing measly Butterbeer bottle!’ Remus sighed in resignation, leaving the dormitory and going up the stairs obediently. James glared at him behind his back.

They stepped into the Sixth Year Boys dormitory room without a care – James already knew none of them were staying in Hogwarts –. He tried to search for the secret alcoholic stash, but he couldn’t help but constantly glance at Remus. He looked very much like he wanted to be anywhere else, a permanent troubled expression on his face, yet he investigated the room diligently.

‘You know, Remus, I didn’t really plan to steal the Butterbeer. The Marauders are pranksters, _not_ thieves!’ he announced, smirking. ‘I have sickles here to “pay” for the bottle.’

Remus perked up. ‘Why didn’t you say so before?’

James bit his lip. He had wanted to have this conversation for weeks, but he had never knew how to tackle it. It was now or never.

‘A while ago I suggested we prank Snivellus with a fake love letter from Lily. Sirius could tell you were very uncomfortable so he shut that one down, but you… you didn’t oppose it. That would have been _unthinkable_ two months ago. Today, I propose stealing. And again, you easily agree to it.’

Remus stood still, staring at the contents of a cupboard, refusing to turn around and look at James.

‘You… you don’t tease us anymore. You don’t jinx us when we pester you too much, you don’t suggest your own pranks, you let us copy your homework without any sort of lecture, you don’t even touch us anymore!’ said James, picking up speed as he listed all the things he had been noticing for more than a month. ‘And I know what changed. But… why? Why do you act like you are on constant thin ice with us? Didn’t we tell you that we don’t care you are a werewolf? That you would still be our friend?’

The boy stayed silent.

‘You haven’t become distant, exactly. But you are… um… Ugh, I don’t know how to explain it! Remus, are you afraid of us?’ he finally asked.

No response.

‘Do you still want to be our friend?’

‘Y-yes! Of course!’ came the immediate response. ‘It’s just… I… I…’

Brief memories of his research on werewolves with Sirius came to mind: the lies the books told, the obvious prejudice and falsehoods in their writings, how McGonagall and Dumbledore had taken great efforts to ensure the Marauders would remain silent about Remus’ secret or his illegal stay in Hogwarts could end _horribly_ for him. James approached Remus, putting an arm over his shoulder.

‘I can’t imagine how hard it must be for you to accept that we love you no matter what, but we’ll be here to remind you as many times as you need.’

Even though he seemed to be trying to hold them back, a few tears rolled down Remus’ cheeks. James hugged him, giving him a few moments to calm down.

‘So... do you actually want to go through with the pudding prank?’

‘It was a dirty trap,’ said Remus, his voice still shaky, but with a smirk he hadn’t shown in a long time.

‘Exactly! Using McGonagall to ambush us?! Unbelievable!’

With renewed vigor, it didn’t take them long to find Collins’ secret stash. There were dozens of different bottles, even one that seemed to be foreign. Collins would be a dead man if McGonagall ever heard of this, James thought.

‘I didn’t know there were so many types of Firewhiskey! Say, Remus, what if we nicked a bottle of Firewhiskey instead?’

‘James, we are already too young for Butterbeer. I think Firewhiskey is... pushing it.’

‘Oh no! My hand is about to nick the Firewhiskey because you are not being assertive enough!’

‘Um… James! We are not getting Firewhiskey!’ Commanding words. Unsure tone. But at least it was progress! One step closer to the Remus he used to be.

‘Alright, a Butterbeer then!’ But the moment James lifted one of the bottles an explosion of slime came out of the stash, covering his face and chest in a viscous green substance. James took a deep breath while Remus stared in amused horror. ‘ _I just showered!’_

  
  


The unpleasant smell of the smile clung to his body even after a second shower. ‘Stupid Collins. An Anti-Stealing Charm? For a bottle of Buttlebeer? Bloody hell…’ grumbled James. He dressed up as quickly as he could; the Christmas Feast would start soon and he still had to sneak into the kitchens.

‘Hello, sir!’ yelped one of the Hogwarts’ elves. They seemed very busy. ‘Dinner is about to start, sir!’

‘I know,’ said James. ‘I was just wondering if I could get a snack before dinner? Something quick, just a glass of juice.’

‘B-but sir! We are a-about to send the food to the Great Hall!’ he stammered in confusion. He was clearly conflicted, trying not to deny a student’s request no matter how nonsensical.

James hummed, though in reality he wasn’t considering the elf’s words. He just needed to buy some time while Sirius, under the Cloak of Invisibility, poured some drops of potion on each pudding. After some back and forth where the elf finally relented, James felt a tug on his arm. ‘Thanks for the juice!’

Just as he and an invisible Sirius were about to leave the kitchens, McGonagall appeared at the door.

‘Professor!’ yelped James, just a tiny bit too high. ‘Isn’t the Feast about to start?’

She raised an eyebrow. ‘I could ask you the same thing. Lupin and Pettigrew are already in the Great Hall, what are _you_ doing here? Students cannot be in the kitchens.’

‘I was getting a snack.’

‘Really? In such a case I recommend the Christmas Pudding. Our house elves have mastered the recipe over the years and it’s one of the finest in the country.’ She walked to the table with the desserts and waved her hand at the plates. ‘Have a bite.’

‘I already had my snack. I’m… ready to dine.’

She narrowed her eyes in silence for a few moments. ‘Then I think I’ll try it myself, I cannot wait until the end of the Feast! If something were to happen to me, though, I’m afraid the detention you would receive would be… harsh. You were the only student here, after all.’

No! That’s what the Cloak was for! ‘I have been talking with the elves all the time! I couldn’t have done it!’

‘Done what?’

James’ mouth shut in an instant and he glared at the floor. How could he have fallen into the stupidest trick in McGonagall’s book?! He had been caught before the prank had come into effect. He didn’t even have the energy to defend himself. The whole day had been a failure.

The professor flicked her wand, vanishing every pudding. ‘Good thing those were decoys and the real Christmas Pudding weren’t ruined. Everyone, not just me, would have been furious at you four otherwise.’

‘Decoys? You knew we would do something to the puddings?!’

‘Potter, they are the biggest target of a Christmas Prank, everyone in the castle suspected the puddings. Honestly, this was quite predictable for you.’

‘Yes! Rub salt into the wounds, of course!’

  
  


After a lecture and being given yet another detention for the holidays, James arrived at the Great Feast when the food was starting to get cold (Sirius had, apparently, managed to escape when McGonagall appeared in the kitchens). Then McGonagall announced that “the plans of certain pranksters had been foiled and the food was safe to eat” to the snickers of everyone in the room. It was humiliating, and James spent the rest of the meal thinking what he could have done differently. Ugh, the puddings were decoys, had he actually taken a bite he could have acted innocently when they turned out to be fake! His alibi of the snack would have made sense!

James was sulking. Everything he had planned, even the James Potter staple, pranks, had gone wrong. He couldn’t be more demotivated. He was distracted from his thoughts when he stepped into his dormitory, a wave of coldness crashing against him.

‘What the…? Why is one of the windows open?!’

Peter yelped. ‘I… I had to open it because of the potion fumes! I forgot to close it, I’m so sorry!’

The Marauders huddled around the heater once they closed the window, trying to warm up. But the temperature had dropped too much, and minutes later they were still shivering. The coldness was a catalyser to James’ visibly souring mood.

‘Blanket fort!’ yelled Sirius suddenly. ‘Let’s make a blanket fort!’

They scrambled for every blanket and pillow in the room and built a fluffy structure using the beds and some spells to hold everything together. With the job finished, the Marauders snuggled together under even more blankets. They even had to lower the power of the heater, it was so warm!

‘There's… er… something else we can still try,’ James muttered. ‘It's late already, but we haven't tried having a ball! A bit of dancing to get us so tired our beds will feel like heaven!’ His excitement quickly died down, however, when it became clear the radio wouldn't work. He pressed all the buttons desperately, turning all the dials, but it was for nothing.

That… bloody snowstorm...

James gave up, burying himself between two pillows. ‘Or perhaps not. I couldn't even get you music. This day was awful. I'm sorry.’

The static of the radio and the wind agitating the windows were the only sounds in the room until... 'Remus, come with me,' said Sirius. 'I need to fetch something.' James peeked just in time to see Sirius stand up and extend a hand to Remus, who hesitated before taking it with the faintest hint of colour on his cheeks. Then they were gone, disappearing outside the dormitory.

James was ready to cover his face with a pillow again when Peter caught his eye. He was biting his nails. James really didn't feel like talking but…

He rolled over the blankets until he was next to Peter, and he put an encouraging hand on his arm. ‘Um... James…’ he finally started. ‘I... um... Thank you. For today. I had a lot of fun.’

James' smile disappeared. ‘It was terrible. Everything I had planned for you three just crumbled down. Nothing I wanted worked.’

Peter hesitated, as if he didn't know how to answer, and James immediately regretted his words. He had tried to cheer him up and James had just lambasted his efforts.

‘I-I had f-fun, really! Christmas at my home isn't… Well…’ He looked uncomfortable. James gave his arm a light squeeze, and Peter took a deep breath. ‘My grandmother passed away on Christmas when I was 8.’

‘Merlin, Peter, I'm so sorry.’

‘I have m-moved on… but… dad… It hit him… hard. He says we should respect her memory and mourn during the holiday. A-and I miss her! I swear I do! B-but… now Christmas is… j-just… Ugh, I feel so selfish just saying this!’

‘You are not selfish!’

Peter seemed close to tears but he blinked them away. ‘It's just… The mood at home is so… I miss the celebrations, and the parties, and the games. When I say this is the most fun Christmas I've had in years, I mean it. I had so much fun with you three today.’

‘I’m glad you got something good out of this. And we discovered you like… Wait! Is that why you stopped ice-skating?’

Peter nodded. ‘My father doesn’t have the will to do anything during the holidays, and Muggle school takes too much of his time afterwards. It’s a long drive to the city, y’know.’

‘But what about your mother? She’s a wizard! She can Apparate!’

‘When I ask her to take me ice-skating, she proposes some flying games together… But I don’t like brooms too much and… I think she was, um, disappointed I didn’t like flying as much as she did. I don’t really want to bother her...’

James gave him a big grin. ‘Oh, Peter, we are going to ice-skate _so_ much these holidays!’

‘Really?’

‘Everyday you ask! Perhaps we could invite people so you can show off! No, don’t give me that look, skills are for showing off!’ James messed his hair, giggling.

Remus and Sirius came back at that moment. Remus set a gramophone on the floor while Sirius carried an entire batch of vinyl records. 'I brought music!' he sang. 'Thomas told me I could borrow his gramophone for the holidays.'

'None of these are Christmas songs,' said James, eyeing them.

Sirius shrugged. 'Thomas didn't have any Christmas songs, so...'

'Well, this will work as well.'

James chose a song at random, placing the disk on the gramophone. A slow but happy melody began to play, and James was on his feet in an instant. He grabbed Remus' hand, dragging him away from the fort.

'J-James, I don't know how to dance!' he yelped.

James just laughed. 'It's easy! Just move yourself following the rhythm!' He put his other hand on Remus' waist and he began to almost bounce around the room, very clearly not following the rhythm. Meanwhile, Remus struggled to keep up with his exaggerated movements, stepping on James’ feet constantly.

Sirius approached Peter with the most serious expression he had ever worn. He offered a hand to the boy. ‘May I have this dance?' he asked, trying to make his voice sound deeper.

Peter took the hand between giggles. Somehow, Sirius’ skill managed to counteract Peter’s two left feet, and their dancing looked much less erratic, even graceful. Remus gazed at them, perhaps wishing for a dancing partner who wasn’t rocking him across the room. James scoffed good-naturedly at the other pair.

‘You call that dancing? Watch this.’ He raised Remus’ arm and he made him spin on the spot, eliciting a tiny yelp from the smaller boy. Peter eyed Sirius warily; he looked unimpressed, but ready to accept the challenge. Sirius put his arm on Peter’s back, and with a move James couldn’t explain, pushed him backwards until his back was almost parallel to the floor. As the music kept getting more animated, so did their moves. None of the four boys noticed the snowstorm had ended.

It wasn’t long until the two couples bumped into each other, and their dancing devolved into trying to sabotage each other. At one point, Sirius bumped Remus with his hip forcefully enough to push him into one of the beds. Remus whispered a spell against Peter as revenge. The Dancing Feet Jinx gave his legs a life of their own, making it impossible for Sirius to keep dancing with Peter without being constantly kneed or stepped on.

With Peter and Remus out of the dance floor, James and Sirius smirked at each other. They interlaced their fingers, but their dance was nothing more than a game of stomping on each other’s feet while Peter and Remus cheered from their beds. James finally managed to trip Sirius and he fell onto the blanket fort, dragging James to the floor with him, prompting a laugh from their small audience. It was there, while they laid down, giggling, that Sirius hugged James. He whispered something barely audible over the song.

‘Thank you.’

And nothing else needed to be said.

  
  


James turned to see a very sleepy Remus leaving the blanket fort. ‘James, why are you still awake?’ he whispered, yawning.

‘I was thinking about stuff.’

The boy sat on the window sill with him. ‘Are you still annoyed about how the day went?’ James shrugged, gazing at the dim moonlight. ‘I don’t… understand. You are more of a “laughing in the face of adversity” type of guy.’

‘I put a lot of thought on everything. And it was for you three. So it irks me that most stuff… failed.’

‘I assure you we had a lot of fun, though. It was a chaotic, messy, sometimes painful day,’ Remus said with a small laugh, ‘but fun. And we spent it together. I couldn’t be happier about that.’

James smiled. ‘You three are really making an effort to cheer me up.’

‘Of course,’ said Remus. He stayed quiet for a moment. ‘You know, when you spend every day… i-isolated and alone in a house, holidays don’t really feel like holidays. They feel just as hollow as any other day. I’d say… this was my first proper Christmas.’

‘And your verdict is...?’

Remus hesitated, then took James’ hand. _He_ had willingly taken his hand! James realised at once that he had made incredible progress that day; it was the first step for Remus to learn that his friends truly accepted him.

‘I wouldn’t have had it any other way.’

  
  


James stood by the entrance to the fort. Sirius, Remus, and Peter laid down under the blankets, deeply asleep. Before coming to Hogwarts he hadn’t expected he would share such a deep connection with one friend, let alone _three_. He couldn’t be more grateful for having them in his life.

‘Happy Christmas,’ he whispered, laying down between them, ready to end the day.


End file.
